


Now that I've found you

by sarcastic_ace_artist



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Inaccurate depictions of college, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, can you tell i've never been to college?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 04:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20960288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcastic_ace_artist/pseuds/sarcastic_ace_artist
Summary: Elmer was born without any soulmarks. His body was blank, not counting his freckles and other natural spots.There were no blackened marks on his body. Not even a small one.





	Now that I've found you

**Author's Note:**

> I actually planned on writing for my Be More Chill series, but I had to write this down before the idea went away.

It was both a blessing and a curse to be living in a world where the first touch of your soulmate was permanently embedded onto your skin. A lot of people had black marks somewhere on their hand. Some of them had black marks on their wrists, arms, or shoulders. Some of the unlucky ones had hand-shaped marks on their cheeks.

Jack’s mark was across his palm and fingers. Dave’s was on his left shoulder. Jack had patted Davey’s shoulder when they first met, not expecting the bright flash of light that came. They waited a couple months to get to know each other better before they started dating.

Sarah and Katherine were both born with marks on their hands, positioned in the form of a handshake. They shook each other’s hands when they met at Jack’s 17th birthday party, and received a flash of light. They got together a week later.

Race had a sharp hand mark across his left cheek. Despite his friendliness, his overall personality gave the impression that he was just asking to be slapped across the face sometimes. Albert had a mark covering the palm side of his hand. Race had introduced himself to Albert with a _ very _ suggestive pick-up line. He was a dumbass. In response, Albert slapped him right where his mark was placed. There was a light a bright flash of light once Albert made contact with Race’s cheek. They got together hours after.

Slowly, everyone in the friend group met their soulmates and integrated them into the group. Blink and Mush. Bill and Darcy. Romeo and Specs. Sniper and Smalls.

Everyone.

Everyone except Elmer.

Elmer was born without any soulmarks. His body was blank, not counting his freckles and other natural spots.

There were no blackened marks on his body. Not even a small one.

Actually the only characteristic of his that was colored black was his hair. It was black, shiny, and according to his friends, "extremely floofy."

He grew up listening to his parents' retelling of the first day they met, stories of how his friends met their own soulmates, and spiels of how _ amazing _ it felt to finally meet the one person who would stand by you and support you during your life.

He wanted that.

He would never be able to have that.

He resented whatever divine soulmate forces that decided that he shouldn't have a mark. He was blank. He had no marks on his body. He wanted to curse and scream and yell to the gods and whatever deities were out there about how unfair it was.

But…

He pushed it down. His friends were happy. Therefore he was happy, albeit a little disheartened and bitter about the fact that he would never have a soulmate.

* * *

They were waking up at Jack’s house the day after a wild get-together, where they had brought along several bottles of alcohol.

Elmer hadn't had too many drinks, so he was staring at the mess when a broom was shoved into his hands. He looked at Jack with confusion.

“Clean up!” Jack shouted frantically as he pushed trash bags and more cleaning supplies into everybody else’s hands. “Medda’s coming back and she’s bringing Spot with her! I wasn’t supposed to have anyone over! Much less have a party!”

In a matter of minutes the room was filled with several boys and four girls hurriedly cleaning up the huge mess they’d made.

“Hey Jack?” Elmer asked as he swept the living room floor. “Who’s Spot?”

“Spot Conlon? He’s my adoptive brother,” Jack replied. “He’s older than me by a few months and he’s been attending Brooklyn College, so that’s why you haven’t seen him around. He ain’t met his soulmate yet. That’s one thing you two have in common.”

Elmer nodded, and went back to sweeping the floor.

He’d like to meet this Spot one day. It would be nice to have another friend who hadn’t met that special someone yet.

* * *

Elmer never actually got the chance to meet Spot that day. Instead, Jack had shoved them all out of the house before Medda returned because _ she would ground him for the rest of his life if they were all there, because one of them was bound to slip up and tell her about the party the night before. _

* * *

The first time Elmer actually met Spot when Race invited him over to hang out in their dorm room. 

Apparently Race knew who Spot was. Huh.

Spot was a little shorter than Elmer himself was. He was Italian, had tanned skin, and was a proud Brooklyn boy. He also had a short (pun not intended) temper.

"Uh, hi?" Elmer smiled confusedly at the boy sitting on the couch in their dorm room. "Who are you?"

"Hey, I'm Sean. Conlon. Higgins invited me over," said the boy.

"His name is Spot," yelled Race from the small attached kitchen area. "Sean is for when you want to summon a tiny Italian demon!"

"Fuck you Race!"

So this was the famous Spot Conlon-Larkin. He was kinda cute.

Elmer pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

He gave Spot another smile. "Nice to meet you Spot. I'm Elmer Kasprzak-Sagloo. I'd shake your hand but…" He looked down at the textbooks he was carrying in his arms. "My hands are a little full right now. I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything right about now."

"No worries." Spot shot finger guns at him. Elmer briefly noted the black marks on Spot's right hand. "School's a bitch. I get it. Race and I will just be playing video games. Try to ignore us because we'll be loud."

Elmer grinned and dropped the books onto his desk before sitting down. "I've had a lot of practice with Race alone. He’s like the equivalent of several angry children running around in a ballpark.”

Race popped his head into the room. "Hey what's _ that _ supposed to mean?!"

Elmer and Spot burst out laughing.

Race glared at them before he sighed in mock exasperation and gave them a smile.

* * *

The second time Elmer ran into Spot was in the campus food court about a week later. Spot was putting together a _very_ _nutritious _bowl of sugary cereal, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and an unhealthy amount of powdered sugar. Not that Elmer really noticed at first. He was paying more attention to Spot. Ad it definitely wasn’t because of the budding crush he had.

It wasn’t!

He waved to Spot once the smaller boy noticed him.

"Hi Spot! I didn't know you we're still here!"

"Oh hey it's Elmer Casperksa-Gloo!" Spot waved to him with a grin as he put the powdered sugar back. "Yeah, Brooklyn let me transfer. Medda kept asking me to visit more did I just decided why not stay here in a more permanent position? Everything's still being finalized though."

Elmer flashed him a smile. "It's actually pronounced Kasprzak-Sagloo."

Spot snickered. "Your last name is kinda weird, El. You know it really sounds like something from _ ye olden times_. Is it one big name?" He snatched a spoon from the container and stuck it in his bowl.

"So I've been told,” Elmer sighed dramatically. “But it’s actually hyphenated. Apparently my parents couldn’t agree on whose last name they should take when they got married. And I got stuck with this Frankenstein’s monster of a last name.”

Spot nodded in understanding. “Sounds harsh. I'm glad my name sounds pretty normal when compared to yours." He took another scoop of his food.

Elmer looked at the bowl of diabetes Spot was holding and motioned to it. "Isn’t that bowl just full of sugary stuff? You're gonna give yourself diabetes with that. And isn't cereal usually a breakfast food?"

Spot paused, the spoon halfway to his mouth. "First things first, never believe anything the government tells you, I’ve heard from some very reliable sources of mine that they're hiding Mothman in Area 51 so why should I believe them about my extreme sugar intake. Second, I just woke up. Oh, don't tell Race. He'll pester me forever if he finds out I actually sleep."

Elmer raised a brow and striped around him to get to the coffee machine. He poured himself half a cup of coffee before turning back to Spot. "Alright. So what do you do? Race talks about you a lot, but I don't really _ know _ you." He raised the cup to his mouth and took a sip.

Spot waved his hand. "Sports major. Coaching and shit. I minor in history. What about you?" He took another note of his sugar concoction.

"Oh! I'm majoring in Astrophysics!" Elmer perked up. "I mean have you seen our universe? There could be so much more out there and it could affect how our world works and the way events happen and—Sorry, I tend to ramble."

Spot was staring at him with an amused expression. "Nah, it's fine. You seem like a pretty cool guy Elmer. Now I'd love to stay and chat with you some more, but I've got a paper to work on and it's due in 10 hours. See you."

"Bye!" Elmer have Spot a wave as he walked off.

* * *

The third time Elmer ran into Spot was mostly Race's fault. Race dragged him to Jack's and Davey's apartment and left him to scroll through his phone on the couch.

He'd just grown tired of waiting for Race to come back and was contemplating just walking home when there was an angered tell from behind him and the rapidly approaching sounds of someone coming in for the kill.

"…fucking dumbass I’m going to _ strangle _ him—Elmer?"

Elmer turned around. It was Spot again. "Spot! Hi!" Elmer waved at him enthusiastically. "It's nice to see you again! I…why are you wet?"

Spot scolded. "It's Race's fucking fault. He was holding the bucket of water. He was also aiming for Jack, but he got me instead. Just talk to me like it's a normal day for us."

"I…okay?" Elmer said. "How're your classes? Are they hard?"

"I fucking hate Mrs. Bours," Spot started, growing more agitated with each word that came out of his mouth, "She's like the literal fucking devil on campus here I swear she deliberately marks me down for no reason!"

He sat down on the couch angrily, staining the cushions with water. "So yesterday I walked into class fifteen seconds before the bell rang. She pointed at me and told me I was late! But then Don Trupp walks in ten minutes after she actually starts teaching and she tells him to just sit down! She biased.”

Elmer fiddled with his hands. “Do you know why she does it? Maybe a friend did something to her?”

Spot frowned. “Well, the only person in our friend group who I definitely know has had her English class before was Jack. But I don’t know if he’s the one, all he said about her class before he transferred was that he once poured salt in her coffee and—” He narrowed his eyes. "That goddamn _ bastard_. Sorry Elmer, I'd love to stay and talk with you more but I gotta deal with him."

Elmer listened patiently as the sound of Spot's footsteps faded out. There was a few seconds of silence, then a shriek from Jack and loud laughter from Race.

"Fuck you Conlon now I'm all _ wet_!"

"Fuck _ you _ you idiotic dumbass it's _ your _ fault Mrs. Bours hates me!"

Jack yelled back at him a comment about Spot's height.

There was another angered yell, the sound of feet pounding on the floor, and then a loud thump.

Elmer smirked. Maybe he would stick around more. If not for amusing things like this happening, then to talk now with Spot.

He really liked Spot.

* * *

Their running into each other came to fruition about a month later.

It was one of those weird days you get during fall, when it could be sunny in the morning but colder later in the day, or vice versa.

Right now it was sunny.

Spot was stuffing something in his bag when they met each other in the park area next to Race and Elmer's dorm building.

"Spot! Hi!" Elmer gave him another cheerful wave, adjusting his grip on the plastic bag in his hand.

"Elmer," Spot said in reply. "How've you been? I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been good, but Mr. Denton gave us a really hard English test recently and I'm worried I didn't pass it." Elmer stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket, making sure that the plastic bag wouldn’t rip. "Have you had him?"

"He takes over for our class sometimes." Spot said. “I usually do horrible on those tests. But if you’re the one taking it, then you’ll definitely pass. I’ve seen your English scores. And the test this time was easy. We both probably passed.”

Elmer smiled. “You wanna stay over? A small celebration for the two of us?”

“I dunno El.” Spot looked up at the sky. “Hey, is it me or does it look like it’s getting cloudier?”

Elmer looked up too. “I heard it might be windy today.”

As if on cue, there was a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked the two over. Luckily, they didn’t fall over. Unluckily, a bunch of leaves from the tree that they were under fell on them.

Oh, and it started drizzling. They didn’t expect that and froze in surprise for a few seconds.

Spot shook himself out of the stupor first. “Run!”

Elmer didn’t need to be told twice and scrambled to open the door just as the rain began to grow heavier.

They made it inside the building before they could get completely soaked. _ Fortunately. _

"Well I guess you'll _ have _ to stay the night," Elmer said cheekily as they stepped inside of Elmer's and Race's dorm. "Race is spending the night with Albert, you don't need to worry about having to hear them make out." Another leaf fell from his hair.

He glanced at Spot. His hair was damp and there were droplets of water on his face. Elmer thought he looked pretty, even with a small scowl on his face and slightly wet clothes.

He placed the bag of snacks on a nearby chair and went to grab two towels from a drawer. He tossed one to Spot. “Dry up.” He rubbed at his own face, not bothering with his own hair due to it not being as wet as Spot’s was.

“Oh be quiet El,” Spot scolded him playfully, “And come over here. You still have some leaves in your hair."

Elmer shuffled closer to him.

Spot placed his own bag on the floor and set the towel on a nearby table before reaching out with his right hand to brush the remaining leaves from Elmer's hair. "You really to be more–Oh my _ god_."

There Spot pulled his hand back to his body as there was a bright flash of light.

Elmer and Spot stared, wide-eyed as Spot's soulmate mark burst into color, turning into shades of olive green and brown. 

Spot opened and closed his mouth. "Holy shit." He glanced up at Elmer and his eyes widened even further. "Holy _ shit_."

"What?" Elmer tugged at his hair self-consciously, still not fully understanding what was happening. "Is something wrong with me?"

"What? Wrong? With you? Fuck, Elmer, there's _ nothing _ wrong with you. It's just…" Spot grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the full length mirror hanging on the wall near them. "I think it's better that you see for yourself."

For the first time since Spot touched Elmer's hair, Elmer got a good look at himself.

"Oh my _ god_."

His hair was streaked with color. There were several different shades of red with some dark gray accents mixed in. His _ hair _ was colored. His soulmate had always been going to touch his _ hair _ first. Not a part of his body, but his _ hair_. _ Spot _ was the one who had touched his hair.

Elmer felt his eyes well up with tears and he turned back to Spot.

Spot was staring at him with an awed look. Then he coughed and glanced away in embarrassment. "I grew up wanting to meet my soulmate," he said, "But when I met you, all I could think about was how unfair the universe was to me for sticking me with someone I didn’t know yet because I started falling in love you."

"Oh," Elmer said. He was pretty sure he was blushing now. “I like you too…?”

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments.

“You’re uh,” Spot cleared his throat, “You’re really pretty. I mean, you always look pretty but—Wait that came out wrong. Sorry I’m usually smoother than this but I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date—”

Elmer cut him off by leaning forward and kissing him.

Spot immediately shut up and kissed back.

They separated once they ran out of air.

“So…lunch tomorrow? At that coffee place you like?” Elmer gave him a shy smile, blushing wildly.

Spot smiled back with a blush on his own cheeks. “If you’re there, anywhere is great.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Leave a comment down below!


End file.
